1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus used for sawing cured slipform cast concrete products on a slipform casting bed before moving the cut concrete products from the casting bed.
2. Description of Related Art
In slipform casting, concrete products are cast on a casting bed in one continuous casting process with slipform casting machine. After casting the one continuous concrete casting is left to cure on the casting bed. After the concrete is cured, the casting is cut to predetermined lengths defining the final concrete products, after which the final concrete products are lifted from the casting bed and transported either to storage or to their construction sites.
The removal of the cut concrete products or elements from the casting bed takes place immediately after the cutting, so that when the last cutting is done and the last element is lifted from the casting bed, the casting bed is ready for cleaning and refurnishing for a new slipform casting.
The cutting of the cured concrete casting is generally done by a diamond bladed saw, which is supported by a frame comprising wheels, which allows the saw to be moved along and over the casting bed. The sawing process generally creates wet slurry, comprising of cooling water and concrete dust and cuttings, which slurry spreads on the casting bed as well as on the area next to or between the casting beds. This slurry needs to be cleaned before new slipform casting process on the casting bed may begin.
The cleaning and refurnishing of the casting bed is generally done, especially in the larger concrete element manufacturing factories, with a separate machine, which usually cleans the casting bed with a rotating brush, oils the casting bed for protecting the metal parts of the casting bed, and draws pretensioning strands or wires from one end of the casting bed to another. The machine can be also equipped with side brush or brushes, which clean the area next to or between the casting beds. One this kind of machine is BedMaster manufactured by Elematic Oy Ab.
After the casting bed is cleaned and the pretensioning strands are drawn on the length of the casting bed, the casting bed is ready for tensioning of the pretensioning strands and starting of the slipform casting process.
The machines used in the cleaning and refurnishing are somewhat expensive and tie capital in machines, and thus are not used in many smaller concrete element manufacturing factories. These smaller concrete element manufacturers carry out the cleaning and refurnishing manually, which is hazardous to the employees' health due to the fine concrete and rock dust created in the sawing processes.